Cultural Confluence: Urban People of Asian and Native American Heritages

A mash-up and then some, the highly eclectic group show Cultural Confluence ranges from kung fu videos to traditional tribal carvings to custom-designed sneakers. Some of the work is older, some as up-to-date as photos and videos made in response to the Seattle Police shooting of Indian woodcarver John T. Williams. Here we see a Native American rendering of Steve Largent's old No. 80 jersey for the Seahawks, whose echt-Indian logo is itself a loaded design that could've been explored further. Elsewhere are skateboard decks, woven baskets, dream catchers, and some historical videos and photographs. These last images, and their companion texts, are the most interesting. Tales of intermarriage, discrimination, hardship, and perseverance fit nicely with the Wing's core mission. Asian newcomers during the 19th century found themselves pushed to the margins of a white-ruled Seattle. And there, of course, they found the region's original inhabitants also camped around the city's edges. Though of two different cultural histories, their streams were then shaped by the same banks. (Artists include Joy Belmont, Chenoa Egawa, Louie L. Gong, Diana Leung & Kamala Todd, Lucy Ostrander & Don Seller, Sandy & Yasu Osawa, Lillian Pitt, Lawney Reyes, Rudy Romero, Samuella Samaniego, Sondra Segundo, Preston Singletary, Hanare Tawera Tahuri & Gene Tagaban, Gail Tremblay & Arthur Tulee, and Laura Wong Whitebear.) BRIAN MILLER